Debriding action
The debriding action of honey has not yet been explained. It may be simply a result of the moist healing environment that is created by the honey dressing. Another possibility is that it is an enzy-matic debridement process. There have been no reports of honey having any proteolytic activity, but the debridement action may be due to activation of pro-teases in wound tissues by hydrogen peroxide generated by the honey dressing. It has been reported that metalloproteases can be activated by oxidation,24 and the inhibitors of serine proteases can be deactivated by oxidation.25